Spotlights

Liliana Rodriguez, Oman/Dubai

Experience: My experience abroad was eye opening and life changing. I went to
a part of the world where many people view is horrible and unsafe, but
I see it as another home. I met many new people that were so
hospitable the entire trip, and I went on adventures that were
absolutely breath taking. I stayed the night in a desert, Rub
Al-Khali, and it was the best time of my life. I woke up really early,
like 4:30am, and climbed dunes with a few other students to watch the
sun rise. It was worth it, absolutely, waking up that early. We slept
outside that night, and we could see so many stars. There weren't any
city lights that drained them out or anything, it was just really dark
with a sky full of stars.

Where am I now: My experience has impacted me immensely. I recently visited a
high school in Holland and spoke about my experience to many students.
It's really true, coming back from being abroad changes you as a
person. I see things in a different perspective than before. I'm
really pursuing Arabic; I've made it my minor. I have applied for the
Critical Language Scholarship, which is a government scholarship that
pays for an entire trip to study abroad somewhere, in my case, the
Middle East. So I'm waiting to hear from that at the moment.